Curious about this--what makes them more profitable? I'd think the extra benefits (concierge service, purchase security, travel accident insurance, lost luggage insurance, etc.), no matter how useless or filled with restrictions they are, still costs Visa, and hence the issuing banks, more money.

Also, they don't get to charge over-limit fees or bump interest rates up for exceeding the credit limit.

And since you have to pay off any balance above your credit line, they don't make much, if any, off of additional interest for higher charges. (And theoretically, banks shouldn't be giving out Visa Signature, or World MasterCards, for that matter, to people who are near the top of their credit limit...)

But maybe there is some internal thing where banks get more of the profits or something...